Bethpage mosque, Gaza peace, Trump, Letitia James indictment

Mosque deserves equal treatment

For years, Muslims on Long Island (MOLI) has tried to replace its small, rundown Bethpage mosque with a beautiful one. The Town of Oyster Bay has fought this every step.

The loudest opposition is talking about parking and congestion, but this isn’t about traffic. It’s about race and religion. Some people don’t want diversity in Bethpage. They’ve hidden their discomfort behind talk of “traffic studies.” It’s not the Bethpage I grew up in.

I grew up five houses down from St. Martin of Tours Church. On Sundays, cars were parked everywhere. Streets were one way until 2 p.m. on Sundays, and nobody complained. Today, every local church relies on public parking. St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, next to the mosque, has no parking lot, so congregants park in the Long Island Rail Road lot.

When I drive past the mosque, traffic flows smoothly. The worst congestion is on Sundays when Christians attend church. It’s a double standard.

The town’s actions have been as troubling as the community’s. Jeffrey Buckholz was hired to testify as its traffic “expert” but was fired after saying he was against “importing another culture” [“Mosque project consultant fired,” News, Oct. 11].

Supervisor Joseph Saladino and the town board should represent all Bethpage people. Instead, though, they’ve wasted taxpayer money on a losing case that’s divided neighbors. The current Department of Justice has sided with the mosque. It’s time the town admits it is wrong.

Bethpage deserves better. Let the mosque be built.

— Anne Weeks, Bethpage

War’s true cost seen in Gaza’s ruins

Let’s enumerate the catastrophe of the war in Gaza the past two years [“LI, world hopeful as hostages, prisoners freed,” News, Oct. 14].

The United States financed this with $21.7 billion in military aid to Israel. Some 67, 869 Palestinians were killed, with about 20,000 of them children. Estimates range from 61% to 90% of those killed were civilians, not Hamas militants. Some 186,000 were injured, went missing, or died of war-related causes, and 90% of 2.2 million Palestinian inhabitants were displaced from their homes. Their homeland is now in shambles.

Was this an ethnic cleansing of Palestine for Israeli and American geopolitical ends? Two real estate moguls, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, mediated this deal without justice for the Indigenous Palestinian people.

What’s next?

— Joseph N. Manago, Briarwood

Peace overseas, but discord at home

The world rejoices as the war in Gaza ends, the remaining hostages are freed, and the inhabitants of Gaza begin the return to their homes. And we all honor President Donald Trump for making it happen. This is truly presidential.

Taking his victory lap, our president urged us all to “put the old feuds . . . behind us” to create a new era for the Middle East [“President calls for harmony,” News, Oct. 14]. Wise words, but is there a major disconnect here?

Is this the same man who is systematically going after his imagined enemies, one by one, in a desperate search to proclaim his relevancy, while punishing them for following the rule of law? Does he have any peripheral awareness of how hollow his words appear? The hypocrisy is stunning.

— Lee Ann Silver, Port Jefferson Station

It’s wonderful that Donald Trump and his advisers have negotiated a peace plan in the Middle East, but what about sincere negotiations for our country? What about funding the government? Trump and his administration seem to be doing everything they can to divide our people.

Does he really think he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize? I’m terrified for my children and grandchildren that this administration will be the cause of a civil war between Democrats and Republicans. We shouldn’t have a president who thinks laws don’t apply to him.

— Diana Fehntrich, Brentwood

Congratulations to Matt Davies for his political cartoon giving credit to Donald Trump for negotiating peace, showing the president planting a tree in Israel [Opinion, Oct. 14]. It is a significant gesture by Davies, and it signifies an open mind. I’m impressed.

— Pat King, Merrick

Justice should be the common goal

As one would expect, the indictment of state Attorney General Letitia James on federal fraud charges has resulted in a deeply partisan difference of opinion [“NY NAACP rallies for AG James,” News, Oct. 11].

Many Democrats are saying that the charges are baseless and politically motivated, while many Republicans are saying that James should be held accountable for her actions.

Instead of the usual political divide, perhaps we could all see things differently if we viewed the matter through a different lens. The prosecution asserts that the alleged fraudulent action would have saved James approximately $18,933 over the life of the loan. To put it in practical terms, if convicted, James will have effectively stolen nearly $19,000.

No matter who the person is — political figure or an ordinary citizen — wouldn’t all of us like to see justice served?

James has repeatedly said, “No one is above the law.”

— Vincent Cristiano, Ronkonkoma